Saturday, June 20, 2009

Good Place to Work

We had a breakfast meeting last Monday out side the office in a nearby hotel. I think most of the people where expecting some bad news. But in fact it was good news. The company has been recognized as one of the best places to work in the country. So everyone was thrilled and filled with a sense of accomplishment. I rode with my friends after meeting them in the company parking lot at 8am. At the breakfast meeting, I had orange juice, pastries and coffee. I did not have a chance to finish the food because the speech started right away. I am getting to understand how people work here. It’s more sedate and mature, perhaps because most of the people have spent a lot of time in the company.

Unfortunately, I am getting a bit paranoid again during these informal meetings. I think my friend’s wife had a similar feeling as they left right away and joked that she is anti-social. But for my case it’s not a dark and gloomy feeling because everything here seems to be bright and shiny. If there is any heaven on earth I think this place qualifies for it. I can’t help but think sinister thoughts when one does not do a lot of work. The idle mind is really a devil’s workshop as a famous proverb says. I spent most of last weekend assembling the cabinets I bought last Thursday. I think I spent about 2-3 hours assembling each cabinet. But it’s a sturdy and nicely designed work. I bought the cabinets at Wal-Mart and I find that it’s a great place to buy good but reasonably priced products.

We spent most of the weekend fixing up the house. I needed to vacuum the living room and the bedroom before my wife arrives on the weekend. I hope the arrangement will suite her. I am afraid that the carpet may upset her but it’s a new house and the place is not that dirty. I am using iRobot – the automated vacuum cleaner. It works like a dream and it’s really an energy saving device. I am glad I bought it even though it cost a lot of money. It will save a lot of effort for us especially my wife. We also started to place the pictures in the walls so it will look like our old apartment. I hope this will help them adapt more easily to the new environment.

I taught my son how to drive last Saturday and he still has trouble working with the manual transmission. It will take some time before he can be comfortable with a manual gear. I wished I bought an automatic transmission car. I guess I was too fixated on the car price which made me miss this problem. I guess this is what we call a ‘non-functional’ requirement: ease of use of an automatic transmission. I think these are the major needs: a simple but nice house and a cheap but reliable automobile to be able to exist well in this country. I am hoping having these things will help my family enjoy the move here.

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